You want all the x-terms on one side of the equal sign, and everything else on the other side. One way to get there is this:
- find the x-term with the smallest (or most negative) coefficient
- subtract everything on that side of the equation from both sides of the equation.
- divide by the coefficient of x
- add the opposite of the constant.
If we do these steps here, this is what it looks like.
- The coefficients of the x-terms are -3 on the left and -6 on the right. The one on the right is most negative.
- Subtracting everything on the right is the same as adding 6x to both sides of the equation. that gives 12 +3x = 0
- The coefficient of x is now +3. Dividing the equation by that gives 4+x = 0
- The remaining constant in the equation is +4. Adding its opposite gives x = -4. This is the solution.
The solution is x=-4.
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Check
12 -3(-4) =-6(-4) . . . substitute -4 for x in the original equation
12 +12 = 24 . . . . . . the answer works in the equation
